For Virtual Prospectors, Life in the Bitcoin Mines Gets Real

That can require powerful computer equipment to keep up with competitors. Some people spend tens of thousands of dollars on custom-built "mining rigs" that they say can triple their homes' electricity bills and raise room temperatures by 20 degrees or more. For some miners, the payoff has been only virtual thus far. Many either hang on to the bitcoins or trade them for traditional currencies on online exchanges. On Thursday, one bitcoin fetched about $135 on Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, one of the largest bitcoin currency exchanges.